Discussion > Public Perceptions of Climate Change
Considering the idiot question that was asked, the results of this survey tell us absolutely nothing useful at all ^.^
Dung
The researchers on the British survey are all psychologists from Cardiff University, (associates of Adam Corner, who got Lewandowsky his big break in the pages of the Guardian).
The question on energy sources was uselessly vague:
“How favourable or unfavourable are your overall opinions or impressions of the following energy sources for producing electricity currently?”
and finds, not surprisingly, that people like wind sun and water more than they like coal gas and uranium.
The question on climate change seemed to me to be as well worded as you can get, since it captures the vagueness of the terms:
“How concerned, if at all, are you about climate change, sometimes referred to as ‘global warming’?”
The “very concerned” are down from 28% to 21% since March, 2010 (that’s a few months after Climategate and Copenhagen). So opinion is definitely moving our way.
geoffchambers
New report lays climate change blame with fossil fuels industry A report released on Friday highlights that two thirds of carbon emissions are made by just 90 companies - the majority of which are fossil fuel firms including BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil, have been blamed for causing the climate change crisis in a new study carried out by the US-based Climate Accountability Institute.
But can we really blame climate change on fossil fuel providers alone - aren't the public and government responsible too?
It supports these claims with calculations that suggest this group is responsible for the equivalent of 914 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide - 63% of all industrial carbon dioxide and methane emissions between 1751 and 2010.
Felixmtt
From The Times Environment.
"Number of climate change sceptics soars as support for alternative energy wanes
The proportion of people who do not believe in climate change has more than quadrupled since 2005, according to a government-funded survey.
Public support for wind and solar power as an alternative to fossil fuels has fallen sharply over the same period, with gas the only form of electricity production now perceived more favourably.
The findings, published today by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), come as hundreds of climate scientists and government officials from around the world head to Stockholm to finalise next week's report on climate change ..."
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/environment/article3872989.ece
Looks a bit to me to be a survey engineered to skew the results. eg "As far as you know, do you personally think the world's climate is changing?"
Working Paper, titled “Public Attitudes to Nuclear Power and Climate Change in Britain Two Years after the Fukushima Accident”
See pages 23 - 27.